The present invention relates to a pressure relief device for a high pressure gas cylinder.
Pressure relief devices are known in the prior art, but these known devices are complex in nature and are contemplated for re-use and are therefore too expensive to construct and to mount if they are desired to be used with a single use or disposable cylinder.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,969,724, solder is used to merely seal a filled can rather than to form a pressure relief device since the can is not a high pressure gas container. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,580,340, a complex pressure relief device is shown wherein the solder plug is not in direct contact wih the wall of the pressure cooker but rather has a rubber seal therearound.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,302, a plastic disk is mounted within the wall of a capacitor cover and thus is not suitable for high pressure applications since it is intended to melt before any gas pressure is created. Additionally, mounting a disk into the wall of a high pressure cylinder would be a costly and complex procedure.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,269,092 and 2,673,010 teach the use of fusible plugs in pressure containers or tanks, but these plugs have a complex construction and are of the aforementioned type wherein multiple uses of the container are contemplated. Neither of these devices teach a fusible plug with a simple construction which is suitable for single use or disposable gas cylinders.